Notes and Essays -- John Brown

 from Quora Another Point of View ·   Following Posted by  Brent Cooper   11h ; see also ZELENSKYY BELIEVES PUTIN WILL ESCALATE ATTACKS AS RUSSIA WEAKENS Zelenskyy is right. It is already happening. “Zelensky warned Ukrainians that Russia may increase missile and drone strikes as Putin’s position weakens politically, militarily and economically. He urged residents to use shelters and said Ukraine had secured additional Patriot missile commitments from allies.” We have seen the sheer number of attacks on civilians escalate. About 135 missiles launched at Ukraine in January. In February 2026, some 288 missiles were launched. This is more than double January’s total In addition, February included multiple very large strike packages, often combining missiles with 400+ drones in a single night, showing a shift toward massed attacks rather than small daily strikes . By spring 2026: Russia is launching coordinated barrages (missiles + hundreds of drones together) Example:...

  Ukrainian drone attacks have achieved breakthroughs, but only ballistic missiles can push Russia to reconsider its war objectives, military experts and officials say. An oil refinery in Moscow after a Ukrainian drone attack on Thursday, in an image from social media. Credit... via Reuters By Constant Méheut Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine The New York Times , June 19, 2026, 9:15 a.m. ET Original article contains links Ukrainians have spent the past day flooding social media with footage of their army’s large-scale drone attack on Moscow. To many, the images of black smoke billowing over the Russian capital are proof that Ukraine is now able to respond in kind to Russia’s air assaults — or, as President Volodymyr Zelensky put it, “If Ukraine burns, then your Moscow will burn as well.” But the celebrations over Thursday’s attack obscure a more complicated reality. However  effective its drone arsenal may be, Ukraine still lacks the weapon that has long underpinned Russia’s most...

The drone attack that sent plumes of smoke rising over Moscow intensified Ukrainian hopes of bringing the war to Russia. Smoke rising from an oil refinery in Moscow after a Ukrainian drone attack on Thursday, in an image obtained from social media. Credit... via Reuters By Siobhán O’Grady Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine June 19, 2026 Updated 9:45 a.m. ET [original article contains links] Assessments that Ukraine has reached a turning point in the conflict with Russia may well prove premature. But the towering dome of black smoke that hung over Moscow this week after a Ukrainian drone onslaught showed that Kyiv still has plenty of cards to play, no matter President Trump’s earlier appraisal of its prospects in the war. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hand was made clear as he moved to seize the initiative both militarily and diplomatically. The strikes on Moscow left part of the city’s biggest oil refinery in flames. An immense blast sent the top of a fuel storage vessel soaring into the ...